People Are Ready And Willing To Pay $80 Or More For Games, Analyst Says

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These days, it’s becoming costlier to enjoy video games, as firms such as Nintendo and Microsoft are planning to impose a $80 price tag on their games. It seems that consumers are prepared and eager to accept these increased costs, as suggested by analyst Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics.

He informed IGN that as Nintendo and Xbox increase game prices, it’s now likely that other video game publishers who have the ability will follow suit, essentially opening the door for higher pricing across the board.

Elliott stated that “The market can handle it. Many video game enthusiasts are ready to pay more than the usual $70, as evidenced by the significant number of people willing to pay $100 for a limited early access privilege.

He pointed out that, even during difficult economic periods, individuals tend to allocate their funds towards their top priorities, which may include video games. Increased costs might not always lead to a decrease in spending. The market can tolerate it. Those who are quick to adopt new trends will continue to do so.

Previously, the CEO of EA (Electronic Arts), Andrew Wilson, stated that entertainment serves as a “basic human requirement.” Consequently, he feels reassured that the economic situation on a global scale won’t have a detrimental effect on the gaming industry.

In a different wording: Manu Rosier from Newzoo suggests that as game prices increase, consumers might become pickier about what they purchase. This could result in them spending less on individual full-priced games and instead opting for subscriptions, discounted packages, or live-service games with long-term support.

Rosier stated that the overall spending might stay consistent or even increase slightly, but the allocation among formats and platforms is predicted to keep changing. Any price adjustments made by Xbox, as well as similar actions by others, could speed up this shift from individual product purchases towards services and integrated systems.

2K Games has revealed that Mafia: The Old Country will retail at $50 upon its August release, bucking a universal trend of game prices not increasing across the board. Historically, there have always been games available at lower prices concurrently with higher-priced ones. Daniel Ahmad from Niko Partners explains that $50 games in 2025 are similar to the $40 games during the PS4 generation and the $30 games from the PS2 era. These price points have consistently been associated with titles that don’t quite fit the AAA mold.

Mat Piscatella from Circana suggested that consumers might gravitate towards free-to-play games or other gaming options that are simpler to access.

It’s expected that games such as Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox, and others will attract even more users and consume more time within their platforms. Additionally, people may choose to use devices they already own rather than purchasing new equipment for gaming purposes. As costs increase in essential categories like food, fuel, housing, vehicles, etc., there’ll be a shrinking amount of money available for discretionary spending, including video games in the United States.

Nintendo debuts its first $80 game, Mario Kart World, as a launch title for the Switch 2. At present, it’s the only game that Nintendo has announced will cost this amount. Conversely, Microsoft plans to raise the price of certain games to $80 later in the year, though they have yet to disclose which specific titles will bear this new cost.

Microsoft and potentially Sony are increasing Xbox and PlayStation prices respectively, not just game prices, given the influence of tariffs. In contrast, the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 will retail at $450, which is $50 more than the original Switch price in 2017 when accounting for inflation. This higher cost might affect sales negatively, according to Nintendo.

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2025-05-15 21:39